on couponing: a few recent successes...

Yes, I've clearly gone off the deep end with my new couponing hobby. Look, I even made a shiny new graphic! Fancy, right? I KNOW.

In any case, I've learned entirely too many things throughout the past couple months to just keep to myself. As I've gone along, I have been so surprised by how little effort is required in order to save a good amount of money. I'm hoping to share at least a few tips (and successes) every now and then, so that hopefully I can encourage someone else with my slightly obsessive thriftiness. 

(Granted, I like to think of these qualities as endearing as opposed to obsessive, but who really knows?)

Here are a few successes I've had:

1. I have saved at least 40-50% on each weekly shopping trip to Vons since I've started using coupons. This week alone I saved $48 on my weekly haul, paying only $58 out of pocket. I've become an avid user of their online "just 4 U" program, which you can find on their website. I can't recommend it enough. It loads discounts and coupons directly to your club card. Some weeks I hardly end up using many paper coupons, only sticking to their weekly sales combined with their online coupons and customized discounts. I've also been trying my best to meal plan based on what is on sale, which has been working out quite nicely. (That's not to say I'm a successful meal planner, but I've been trying to be a bit more organized!) 

2. This month, our church is focusing on health/personal products for donations, and I've been using this as a challenge (and opportunity) to hone my couponing skills. I want to see how many items I'll be able to donate while spending only $25. Instead of giving money, I can give more by spending a bit of extra time organizing coupons and researching sales. So far this month, I have spent only $5 total and have a bag filled with the following products:

• 4 Lady Speed Stick deodorants
• 1 Mitchum deodorant
• 2 tubes of Colgate toothpaste
• 4 bottles of Pantene shampoos
• 1 bottle of Clear shampoo

3. For my best CVS purchase to date, I was able to get 4 bottles of Pantene shampoo, a case of 24 bottles of water (to have on hand in case of emergencies; we never typically buy bottled water), and 3 boxes of Special K red berries cereal—all for only .94 total, if I include the $3 in Extra Bucks I received back on my receipt. CVS is an amazing place to start couponing, since you are able to combine so many different things to maximize savings: paper coupons, %-off deals you receive via email ALL THE TIME, $5 off $15 purchase coupons (I receive a variety of these via email), $ off when you spend a certain amount on a certain item (for example, I used a $2 any $10 shampoo purchase for the above purchase), Extra Bucks (which you receive back on certain purchases), and CVS coupons that print at their coupon machine each week.

Here are a few things I've learned:

1. It's easy to want to go crazy at every single store you live within 5 miles of, especially when you start following blogs that feature weekly deals. However, I've decided that it's easiest to just stick to ONE grocery store (for me, that's Vons), ONE pharmacy-type store (for me, that's my BFF, CVS), and one they-have-it-all store (for me, that's Target). That way, I'm able to plan just a few shopping trips each week, and I'm able to be very familiar with how each store works. (And, anyway, Walmart gives me hives, so even if I can get free toilet paper there, it's just not worth it, yo.)

2. There are a ridiculous amount of couponing blogs, but I've had the best luck while limiting myself to only two that I check every day (or every couple days): Krazy Coupon Lady and Money Saving Mom. These blogs also feature great sales, freebies, and tips, too! Totally worth the follow. And you don't have to be a mom, I promise.

3. As I've mentioned before, you can get some fantastic deals at Target by stacking coupons (using manufacturer coupons with Target coupons). But there have been at least 3 times when I've noticed after leaving the store that the cashier didn't correctly scan the coupons and I didn't get my full savings. I usually end up using coupons at Target for things I'm stocking up on (beauty/health/cleaning products), so it's frustrating to pay more for something I don't even need immediately! So, just try to pay extra attention when you're using a bunch of coupons. Or keep your transactions small, like I've started doing. It makes things less awkward and annoying (for you, the cashiers, and the people behind you in line giving you the stabby eyes).

4. I'm much more organized in how I spend my time creating shopping lists, clipping/printing coupons, and researching sales. I have a great weekly routine, and even know what day the grocery store switches over to a new week of discounts—that way I can spend only a couple hours each week getting my lists and coupons together for all my shopping trips. Not too shabby, when you think about it. Now that I have a better idea what to look for (and know what I'm doing), it goes by much quicker! (And since I've been stocking up on things when they're at good prices, I find that I need less and less each week.)

If any of you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share, please do! I'll be checking in every couple weeks or so to share anything that may be helpful/worthy/impressive. If you need me, I'll be researching couponing binders because I apparently want to give my husband another reason to judge me a little bit.

on life, three years ago...

I've had the habit of keeping my little daily planners for the past several years, instead of throwing them away once January has rolled around. I would never spend more than a dollar on a planner (up until recently) and would end up grabbing the prettiest one I could find in the Target dollar bins and call it a day—filling it up with to-do lists, weekly plans, my work schedule, and the like. 

I've always wanted to be a Planner Person, mostly because I always loved how my mom would fill hers up with so many detailed notes and appointments and honey-dos. But it wasn't until I had Eisley that I really started accurately detailing my life, and having my planner become something I looked at several times a day. (Yes, I was one of those moms who would jot down every single thing that happened during my child's first year. It somehow managed to calm me…giving me a sense of order and routine. Some sort of method to the madness, if you will. But I suppose that is a tale for another time.)

While going through the many miscellaneous items tucked into our bedside table last week, I came across my planners from the years 2008, 2009, and 2010. I always find it highly entertaining to go through these sorts of things…planners, journals, random notebooks (of which there are many). For some reason, I can't bring myself to throw them in the trash, even though they don't hold anything too terribly important. Opening the planner from 2008, I took a peek at my running schedule. That year I had started running for the first time in my life, and was keeping track of my workouts and the weight I was losing. My brain melted a little bit when I went through the pages recording my weekly weigh-ins. I can't believe I was ever that in shape. I mean, for the love. (Although, all things considered, it's only fair to mention that I have a much healthier sense of self while in my current size of jeans.)

When I flipped through my 2010 planner to the month of May, I came across my note for the 27th—and oh, how it took me back to that time in my life. 

Try not to die from stress.

I remember writing that. Trying to jot down something witty to counteract my growing feelings of insecurity and worry and all of those usual new-job wonderings. Looking back on that time, it's like seeing a completely different me in so many ways. I could write pages and pages on all the things I learned about myself during that time. But, long story short, I feel like it was very important for me to have that experience. To have a job that, many days, felt so out of my comfort zone. To challenge myself in ways I never anticipated being challenged—to struggle and fail and shine and grow, sometimes all within the span of one day.

It was worth it all, if only to walk away with a greater awareness of myself, my strengths, my own definition of success. Especially when it comes to how much of myself I'm willing to give to any job.

But I'm grateful for what it gave me. And I'm grateful that I didn't, in fact, die from stress. (Nor did I actually go to the gym after work that day, most likely driving home in traffic for over an hour, throwing on my pajamas and weeping into a couple glasses of wine and/or my husband's shoulder. Priorities, you know.)

Plus, part of me wants to be all like, "GIRL, PLEASE. You don't even know what stress is until you are walking around Costco the week before Christmas, carrying a fussy infant whose diaper seems to have just exploded, and you haven't had a full night of sleep in over a year."

But I suppose it's all relative. I'm sure when Eisley is sixteen I'll look back at any other point in my life, rolling my eyes at any worries I used to have because my daughter apparently wants to date some guy named Axel who has a very questionable neck tattoo.

A time in my life that may once again require a bit of wine to survive.

on a few new things I love...

I picked up this owl vase at Michael's about a month ago. I love how their home decor switches so often that you can almost always count on finding items 40-50% off. I snagged the last one of these off the shelf for around $8. I decided to use it in our kitchen, although now I wish I had another to put on our bookshelf. It reminds me of something you'd find at Anthropologie, which is rather delightful—considering it was so inexpensive!

My mom and youngest sisters recently treated me to a handful of unexpected gifts, and this tape dispenser was one of them. It's been on my wish list for ages, and I may have gotten a bit weepy (in the best way) when I opened one of the gifts and found this inside. I have the sweetest family, for sure.

A chevron rug! For our kitchen! And it was only $13! Heck, yes! Sometimes I get too excited about things. This is true.

Since we recently had to move everything out of our duplex (save for the bathroom and kitchen) for our carpets to be cleaned and re-stretched, I had the chance to completely re-organize our bookshelf. For someone like me, that is basically an early Christmas gift. The shelf above is my new favorite—especially the photo of Jay and Eisley, which I took on her first birthday.

A few colorful books, neatly stacked on the shelf above our bed. I like how the colors are all matchy-matchy. (The vintage copy of Pinocchio is from my favorite used book store!)

And once again, my love of washi tape is clearly displayed here. I took down the paper banner I've had hanging above Eisley's changing table for the past almost-two-years. I was eager for a change, and decided to tape up a few of my favorite photos from the past year. I love little changes that make me smile whenever I walk by.